If one looks at the most 'successful' business practices that have been
adopted over the past decade or so, we see things like CRM, eBusiness,
BPR, Six Sigma, etc. These practices were never solely judged on a
single criteria, and if they were, money was rarely the only one.
I think we in corporate innovation need to up our game, be more
aggressive about benefits, and give our leaders more direction in what
to expect from innovation - and what to demand. Framing the discussion
only in terms of financial results is a mistake.
That said, most of the current innovation initiatives are closely
linked to business strategy, the multi-faceted list of important TO DOs
from the executive level. Innovation is often one of the line items,
but innovation practices and methods supports the achievement of many
of the rest as well. The opportunity is there for the corporate
innovator right now - and there are methods to help you.
Mark
